The Sparkling Struggle
by PKfyrestorm
Summary: A month after Abby and Angela's adventure, the girls find two sparklings in Angela's basement. Which begs the question: How did they get there? And how do they find their parents? In order to help the sparklings get back to normal, they must team up with a very unlikely ally. Will they reach an absolution? Or will they be torn apart at the seams? (Sequel to Two Girls and a Bot)


The Sparkling Struggle

By: Pkfyrestorm

Prologue (also the epilogue to Two girls and a Bot) 

Abby was pulled out of a heavy sleep by her phone chiming. She groaned. It chimed a second time. Abby hardly moved. Whoever was texting her was going to incur her full wrath if they didn't stop it. Then her phone blasted a familiar ringtone. She staggered over to her phone and answered it, debating homicide.

"Angela, it's two in the morning! Why the hell are you calling me?" Abby hissed. She regretted her profanity, but she was tired.

"Yeah, sorry about that. How soon can you get here?" Angela asked, her voice peaked with anxiety. Abby sighed. She wasn't sure what was going through Angela's head at the moment, but she was so tired that she could barely tell what was going on in hers.

"Angela, I'll come in the morning if you are that lonely but not now," she groaned, remembering that Angela's parents were taking her siblings to camp and would be gone for a few days.

"No no no! You have to get here now!" cried Angela, her voice spiked with panic. Abby paused. One thought penetrated her muddled mind: her friend was in some serious trouble. Then, the phone went dead. Adrenaline filled Abby's system, waking her up.

"Angela? Angela? ANGELA?!" she screamed, knowing that there would be no answer. Abby jumped out of bed, got dressed, and slipped on her shoes. She ran to the basement like there was no tomorrow, phone in hand. And there may as well not be. If something happened to her friend because of her, she would never forgive herself. Abby ripped the tarp off of the teleporter. It was a prototype to their final one, and she didn't want to use it. But she knew that every second counted if she wanted to save Angela. Abby punched in the coordinates and slammed the button. Within seconds, she was standing on Angela's front step. The door swung open, nearly mowing Abby down. But that wasn't the most shocking thing. Angela was pointing a shotgun straight at her head. She screamed.

"NOT COOL!" Abby yelped.

Angela lowered the gun. "Sorry," she said, "I had to make sure you weren't one of them." Angela whispered, scanning the vicinity.

"What are you talked by about?!" Abby exclaimed. "I swear, if this is a prank I'll break your phone and possibly your neck," she threatened. Angela pulled her into the house by her arm and slammed the door behind them. They sat down at the kitchen table.

"Here, drink this." she suggested, pushing a cup of hot liquid towards her.

Abby recognized it instantly. "No thanks, I don't like coffee," she said, trying to stay awake.

"Make sure to stay quiet, or else you'll wake up the whole neighborhood," Angela advised.

Abby sighed. "Why did you wake me up?" she asked.

"Because you're the only one I could turn to!" Angela cried.

"For what? What is this all..." Abby was interrupted by the sound of a baby wailing. What on earth?

"Angela, are you hoarding children?" Abby asked, her voice on edge. Angela opened the basement door and motioned for her to follow her. Both girls tiptoed down the stairs. There was a cardboard box on the couch, looking filled to the brim with blankets. Periodically, the blankets twitched. Abby stared at her friend, probing for an explanation.

"Ok, please don't scream!" Angela warned.

Abby nodded slowly, getting ready to run. Angela uncovered the blanket. Abby's eyes widened. Two sparklings lay in the box, one was white and blue, the other red and white. A million questions exploded into Abby's mind. But she only asked one. "Why are they so small?" she asked. Sparklings were usually about three feet tall, depending on how old they were, and these two were the size of human babies.

Angela scratched her head. "I have no idea. All I know is that we need to get them back to their parents," she said. "And I mean now."

Chapter 1: The adventure continues

Abby stared at the two sparklings that lay on her friend's couch.

"Ok, I've got so many questions on my mind, but I'm gonna start with the basic one. What happened?!" she exclaimed.

Angela sighed. "Ok. So I wake up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, right, and I hear this weird noise. Well, I thought that there was a burglar in the house, so I grab my dad's shotgun and hide in a closet. A few minutes later, I hear footsteps coming up the stairs, and I swear that whatever it was stopped right in front of my hiding spot. I almost passed out. Then whatever it was left. I ran downstairs as fast as I could and then I heard crying coming from the couch. And that's about it," she finished.

Abby looked at the sparklings who were moving in the box. One of them accidentally socked the other in the face, but they still kept sleeping.

"You didn't build a shrink ray, did you?" Abby asked in a somewhat accusatory tone, raising an eyebrow.

Angela shook her head. "No. I would have mentioned that. And we have to find a way to return to the transformers world," she said, picking up the red and white one.

Abby threw her hands in the air. "How? We don't even know where we...whoa!" she gasped.

The sparklings started to glow a light blue. Angela clutched the red and white sparkling to her chest and squeezed her eyes shut, while Abby stared, transfixed, at the light. There was one more, blinding flash of light, and Abby was forced to shut her eyes. It was so bright, she could almost see through her eyelids. Finally, the light disappeared. There stood some sort of bot, with Abby hoping to God that it wasn't a Decepticon.

"Greetings, Angela and Abby," said the bot. Abby could tell that this bot wasn't a Decepticon, but she still was cautious. While Decepticons are very upfront about their intentions, the rest were hard to tell.

"Angela, do you know..." Abby asked, her voice trailing off.

Angela gave the bot a soft smile.

"It's okay, his name is Alpha Trion, we can trust him." she said.

Abby sighed in relief. Alpha Trion stepped forward.

"I see you met Orion and his twin Arielle." he said gesturing to the sparklings in the girls' arms.

"Ok it's not that I don't trust you because I do...but how do you know our names?" Angela asked, shifting Orion in her arms.

"I know many things, young Angela, but I must cut my visit short. I brought the sparklings into your custody because they are safer here." Alpha Trion explained.

Abby sighed in agitation. "Okay, but we can't keep them with us! I'm sorry, but we don't have a way to feed them or a way to bring them back!" she cried, lifting a still-sleeping Arielle into her arms.

Alpha Trion exhaled. "The times were desperate, Abby, I could only send them to you without the Decepticons tracking them. And I will allow you a way to return to the world I had called home."

He dropped a small item into Angela's hand. It shrank down taking the form of a key.

"Thank you, but how are we going to find their parents?" asked Abby.

Alpha Trion smiled. "I believe you already know who their parents are," he said.

Abby's eyes widened.

"Optimus and Elita! I should have known!" cried Angela.

Abby nodded. "Yeah, that would explain the 'cons being after them," she reasoned.

Looking down at Arielle, she noticed the resemblance the tiny Autobot had with both Optimus and Elita. Arielle seemed to have her mother's pink and her father's blue outer shell. Orion seemed to have his mother's white and his father's red outer shell. As for their personalities, only time would tell. Alpha Trion cleared his throat.

"When you are ready place this in the teleporter and it will send you to their home world and these are for easier travel." He then dropped two baby carriers on the ground.

"These are bullet proof and light weight. Good luck girls, you will need it," said Alpha Trion. Then, the blinding light appeared again, and the helpful bot was gone.

"Wait, why didn't he give us anything to defend ourselves with?!" Abby exclaimed in annoyance.

She appreciated the stuff he gave them, but why didn't he give them a weapon or two? Angela put Orion on the couch.

"Well, that's not totally true," said Angela.

Abby stared at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked, putting Arielle down and crossing her arms.

Angela shrugged.

"Ever since we got back from our adventure, I've been inspired to make weapons. Weird, I know, but since we went to another dimension anything is possible," she explained.

She gestured for Abby to follow her. Abby followed, not knowing where this was going. Angela started rummaging through a box.

"Now where did I...Aha!" she exclaimed. "This was made for you." Angela said, handing a short metal rod to Abby. "Now, push the black button," she instructed.

Abby hesitantly pressed the button. A beam of blue light shot out of it.

"No way! You made an actual LIGHTSABER?! Thank you so much!" Abby exclaimed happily, on the verge of a geek attack. She felt like dicing a bunch of battle droids to test it out.

Angela smiled. "Yep. I was inspired," she explained sheepishly.

Abby retracted the light. "Cool, but what about you?" she asked.

Angela smirked. "I was hoping you would ask that." She reached into the box and put on a pair of fingerless metal gloves. Angela reached out her right hand and Abby's precious lightsaber was torn from her grip and landed into Angela's hand.

"That's what it does." Angela said smugly, handing Abby back her lightsaber.

"So, you can move metal with those?" Abby inquired, wondering if her friend had taken some inspiration from X-Men.

Angela nodded. "Yep, I figured that was best since the cons are metal."

They made their way back to the couch and strapped on their carriers.

"Man, it feels kind of like I'm preparing for war," remarked Angela.

Abby nodded. "Well, we are, in a way," she said, lifting Orion into Angela's carrier.

Angela lifted Arielle into Abby's carrier and gave her a thumbs up.

"Ok, ready?" Abby asked.

Angela nodded. "Yeah- oh I almost forgot!" she cried.

"Forgot what?" asked Abby. Her friend tossed her something.

"Blasters," Angela explained, grabbing her own. Abby grabbed the key and jammed it into the teleporter slot.

"Here goes nothing," she mumbled. The teleporter lit up, and they stepped into the light.

They finally landed in a dark, dusty cave. Abby coughed.

"Wow, it's a good thing I don't have asthma," she joked.

But Angela didn't move.

"Something wrong?" Abby asked. Angela pulled her behind a rock.

"Ok, what's wrong?!" Abby repeated, trying to get through to her friend.

Angela peered above the rock.

"Abby I don't know how to say this but...we're in a Decepticon mine," she whispered.

Abby gasped. This couldn't be happening. But why was it still happening? Horrified, she peeked above the rock, only to see a bunch of 'cons harvesting energon. She groaned in frustration and used her usual defense mechanism.

"Is it too late to get our money back?"

Chapter 2: You know the drill

Alpha Trion would be quaking in his boots if he could see how livid that Abby was at him.

"What was Trion thinking?! We might as well just yell 'Hey! We're having a sparkling sale! Buy one get one free!' Because they're probably gonna find us and I am having some serious Deja Vu right now!" Abby whispered angrily.

Angela shrugged. "Well, you never know. We just have to find a way...Aha there!" she exclaimed, pointing.

Abby turned. An energon drill sat just a few feet away from them.

"We can use it to drive out of here!" Angela cried excitedly.

Abby grinned. They weren't screwed after all. "Ok, what's the game plan?" she asked.

"Find a way to start it. It's like high jacking a car," Angela explained they made their way over to the drill. Angela kept lookout while Abby worked, using a screwdriver that Angela had brought. It was child's play to get to the wiring, but it was another matter entirely to match the wires. She sighed.

"If I was a Decepticon, how would I wire this?" she asked herself.

Arielle sighed a little in her sleep, probably lulled by the rise and fall of Abby's chest. It was ironic that Elita had saved their lives, and now they were trying to save the lives of her children. It's funny how life works. She grabbed a purple wire and white wire and, praying that it would work, connected the two wires. The Decepticons' main color was purple, after all. The drill's engine started running. Abby pumped her fist and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She gave Angela a high five. Abby stepped onto the drill. She looked down at Arielle and noticed that she was awake and was starting to whimper a little.

"Uh oh, I know where this is going," Abby thought. She looked over at Orion and, sure enough, he had the same expression. The poor sparklings had no idea where they were and where their parents were.

"Um, Angela, do you know how to feed them?" Abby asked desperately.

"No, why?" Angela whispered. Abby sighed anxiously.

"Because they're about to start screaming!" she whispered loudly.

Just as she finished talking, Arielle started crying, followed by Orion. The Veicons' gaze snapped to the girls.

"Go go go!" Abby cried. Angela jumped on the drill, and they were off.

The cons started shooting after them. Abby did her best to control the giant drill while dodging their shots, but it wasn't easy.

"Would it have killed them to label the controls?!" Abby griped in annoyance. A blast ricocheted off of Arielle's carrier, scaring her to the point of more tears.

"Hey, it's okay," cooed Abby, trying to soothe the little sparkling. Arielle kept on crying. She put her pointer finger in Arielle's mouth, hoping that it would do the trick. After all, she didn't know how old they were, mentally.

"Abby don't!" Angela warned, but it was too late. Arielle bit down on Abby's finger.

"Ow!" Abby yelped, pulling her finger away. Thankfully there wasn't a cut.

"I almost got eaten by a sparkling. Fantastic," she mumbled sarcastically.

Angela ducked, dodging a shot. Just then, Abby got an idea. "Hey Angela, can you watch Arielle and drive this?" Abby asked, handing Angela the carrier.

"Sure, why?" Angela questioned, gripping both a mutely crying Arielle and Orion to her chest.

Abby grinned. "I'm giving my lightsaber battle experience," she smirked.

She drew her lightsaber, ignited it, and tried to block the blasts as best as she could. "It's not as easy as it looks in the movies," she thought to herself. One of the blasts hit a veicon.

"Ha!" shouted Abby in triumph. She deflected several more blasts, all of them hitting veicons. She was finally getting the hang of this.

Angela tapped her on the shoulder. "Can I try?" she asked.

Abby nodded. "Sure," she said, grabbing Orion and Arielle's carriers and strapping both of them to her chest.

Just then, the drill hit daylight.

"And we are almost in the clear!" Angela cheered.

Abby typed in a code on the keypad. She hoped that she got the number right. Otherwise, things would get awkward.

"Autobot base! This is Abby! We need backup!" she shouted.

There was silence.

"Can you hear me?" she asked, with a bit of anxiety creeping in her voice.

A voice finally came out of the speakers.

"Shortie?" Ratchet gasped.

Abby smiled. "Rust Bucket. It's been too long."

Ratchet scoffed. "Yeah, it took you long enough. It's been almost two years. I thought you two were gone forever," he said.

Abby's jaw dropped. Time passed a lot faster than she'd thought.

"Well things have changed." Angela declared. By this time, both twins had stopped fussing, obviously recognizing the sound of Ratchet's voice.

"Watchet!" cried Orion.

Arielle babbled something as well, but Abby couldn't make heads or tails of it. There was silence.

"Arielle?! Orion!? Thank Primus you're all right!" Ratchet sighed.

Angela ran to the edge of the drill and, using her magnet gloves turned, made a con crash into another con.

"Yeah that's for Cybertron!" she yelled, pulling out her blaster.

"Where are you?" Ratchet asked.

Abby looked around.

"Uh, we're in some sort of canyon." she said.

"Not helping!" Ratchet snapped.

An idea formed into Abby's head.

"Hey, can you track the drill?" she asked. Ratchet sighed. "It'll be tricky, but it's worth a shot," he mumbled.

Then, the drill sputtered and came to a halt.

"Oh scrap!" Angela exclaimed, slamming her fist on the seat, "It's too low on fuel!"

Abby groaned. "Now what?" she asked.

"We run." Angela stated.

They jumped off the drill and ran for their lives, with the Veicons in hot pursuit. Angela and Abby pulled out their blasters and tried to hold them off, but it was pretty hard to run backwards and shoot at the same time. And multitasking was not Abby's speciality to begin with. A dark shadow passed over them and landed, blocking their path. Abby turned and screeched to a halt, so fast that Angela smacked into her back. "Dreadwing!" Angela gasped.

"Again, out of the loop." Abby thought to herself. Dreadwing tilted his head to the side. "Let's see, there's a short, straight-haired one and a tall, curly haired one. And they have the prime twins with them," he muttered to himself, pointing at each of the girls.

Abby glared. "Oh, for goodness' sake, why does everyone I meet say I'm short! I may be five feet tall, but I'm not a dwarf!" she cried.

Angela giggled. "Well, everyone's short to him," she said.

Dreadwing paid no attention to Abby's outburst.

"You are the two humans Megatron once spoke of. Know this time you will not escape so easily," he said, with almost no emotion.

Abby scoffed. "Well, aren't you a barrel of laughs," she muttered, igniting her lightsaber and putting Arielle's carrier on her back. Angela readied her magnets and did the same with Orion. Both girls stood back to back, ready for a fight. The Veicons formed a circle around them, inching closer and closer. Abby was glad that their current pose have the Sparklings optimal protection.

"It is unwise for you to challenge us, but nevertheless, I must oblige," said Dreadwing, drawing his gun.

Nobody dared to move a muscle. If she went out defending the sparklings, death would be worth it. Angela would probably feel the same. And if the sparklings were alive, the Autobots would live on, and that was a major priority.

"You know, if you kill us and the Sparklings, then you will have nothing to give to your Megatron. So it is in your best interest to let us go free," Abby bargained.

Angela shrugged. "She has a point, you know."

Dreadwing didn't even flinch.

"What if I let three of you go, and one of you would come with me," he bargained.

Abby stepped forward. "Is that a fact?" she asked casually, but her heart was pounding. If there was really no other way...

Angela stared at her friend. "Abby, NO!" she screamed, making both Orion and Arielle jolt in shock.

Abby turned to her friend.

"Angela, if this is the price that must be paid to free the Sparklings, then I will gladly pay it," she said with as much courage as she could.

"B-but I'll never see you again," Angela choked, on the verge of tears.

Dreadwing shrugged. "Well, I guess you should say your final goodbyes then," he said, lowering his gun.

The Veicons followed suit.

"Goodbye to you, Decepticon," growled Ratchet, who had appeared out of nowhere. He extended his knives and started dicing the Veicons, who were completely blindsided. Angela used Ratchet's diversion to control Dreadwing's arms. She made him slap himself multiple times in the face.

"Why'd you hit yourself?" she taunted.

Abby lifted her lightsaber and drove it clean through Dreadwing's abdomen, right below his spark. She could have easily hit his spark, but she didn't feel like murdering someone that day. He doubled over in pain, energon leaking everywhere. Luckily, Arielle and Orion couldn't see, much less understand, what was going on.

Both girls sprinted to the Autobot Doctor.

"Are all of you maggots intact?" Ratchet asked. Angela and Abby smiled simultaneously.

He sighed. "I take that as a yes," he muttered. Dreadwing tried to pick himself off the ground, but collapsed again, moaning. Ratchet picked up both the girls and Sparklings and ran through the groundbridge, away from the Decepticons.

As soon as they came in, Jack, Raf, and Miko ran towards them. Only, they had aged. The most jarring was Raf. Looks like someone hit puberty. Abby swore that he'd grown a solid foot since she'd last seen him. As soon as Ratchet put them down, Miko started peppering them with questions.

"You guys are back! I don't believe it! Did you make it home? How did you find the sparklings? Where did you get the weapons? Can I have one?" She asked.

Both Raf and Jack facepalmed. Looks like some things hadn't changed. "Yes, Miko, we did make it home. We'll explain the rest later." Angela said, placing a hand on Miko's shoulder.

Abby looked around, puzzled. The base was so empty.

"Where's everyone else?" she asked, turning towards the doctor.

"They are actually looking for the sparklings. We've been searching for days. Anyway, I'm thankful that they ended in your hands." he said, flashing one of his rare smiles.

Abby blinked.

"Wow. I never thought you'd ever learn how to smile," she commented. Ratchet glared at her.

"Uh Abby..." Angela said.

Abby turned and saw what her friend was pointing at.

"Wait, is that our teleporter?!" she exclaimed.

"I thought I told you to destroy it!" Angela protested. Jack walked over.

"We almost did, but Elita refused to dismantle it, thinking that you would somehow return," he explained.

"Optimus was the first to give in," mumbled Ratchet in a barely audible tone.

"Well you should call the others so they can know that these cuties are alive," Angela smiled, lifting Orion out of his carrier.

As soon as he was out, he started crying. No sooner had Orion started crying when Arielle joined in, making it an official duet. Abby picked her up and tried bouncing her a little, but it didn't work.

"Aww you need a lullaby?" Angela cooed.

Ratchet scoffed. "Good luck with that. Elita and Optimus are the only ones who..." He was cut off by the sound of Angela's voice.

"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high. There's a land that I've heard of once, in a lullaby.

Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue. And the dreams that you dared to dream really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star, and wake up where the clouds are far behind me,"

Abby then joined in, and the girls sang together.

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me.

Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly.

Birds fly over the rainbow, why can't, why can't I? If happy little bluebirds fly, beyond the rainbow, why, oh why can't I?"

Jack, Raf and Miko gave the girls a round of applause, while Ratchet's jaw dropped. Both sparkings were asleep in the girls' arms.

"How-how did you-" he sputtered.

Abby shushed him. "Shh, they're sleeping." she said, trying to withhold a giggle.

The groundbridge opened.

Arcee stepped out.

"Sorry, there's no bolt or trace of-" She froze. "Angela?...Abby?" Arcee breathed, kneeling down to face them. "I can't believe you of all people found them. I'm impressed," she smirked.

Abby smiled back. "No problem," she said.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee jumped through the groundbridge and froze. Upon seeing the girls, Bumblebee ran over to them and picked them up, buzzing joyfully.

Bulkhead sighed in relief.

"You're back! Thank Primus the cons didn't get their hands on them," he said.

Bumblebee put them back down.

"Ok, all that's left are the Primes...where are they?" Abby asked.

Arcee stepped forward.

"Elita ran out of here four hours ago to search despite Optimus telling her to rest, vowing to not lose another family member." she explained.

Abby's heart snapped on the word "another". She could only imagine what they were going through. Elita must be thinking that she'd lost both Arielles in her life, along with her Orion star. Which reminded her..

"Question? Why was Elita's sister named Arielle if Elita's old name was Ariel?" Abby inquired.

"Well, Elita's sister was quite a bit younger than her. At the time of her birth, Elita's parents thought that she was dead for some reason and named her Arielle, as a tribute to Elita," explained Bulkhead. Abby nodded. Looks like Elita named her daughter as a tribute to both her sisrer and her parents. And she named her son as a tribute to the love between her and Optimus.

The Sparklings awoke once more, but this time, they weren't crying. Bumblebee walked away.

"He's going to get some energon for them," explained Raf. The girls nodded. A few minutes later, both girls were feeding the Sparklings on the couch, exactly like they would a human baby. Arielle reached out and tugged on Abby's hair.

"Ow! Could you maybe not do it so hard?" she winced, knowing that it was useless to reason with a sparkling. Maybe the temptation was too much, since her hair was so long that reached the top of her ribs.

Abby turned her head to the side. Ratchet was nearly doubled over in laughter.

"Oh shut up," she muttered, glaring daggers at him.

"Well, you've gotta admit, it is pretty funny," shrugged Jack. Abby sighed, but decided to drop the subject.

"So, how old are they?" asked Angela, tapping on the back of the bottle.

"They're ten months old, but mentally, they're about two," answered Raf.

"That's why they're still being bottle fed," added Arcee.

"Speaking of age, how old are you guys now?" Abby asked, addressing the humans.

"I'm eighteen," said Jack

"I just turned seventeen!" declared Miko

"And I'll be fourteen in a few months," said Raf.

Abby and Angela exchanged a glance. Time had passed a little too quickly for her liking.

Arielle let go of Abby's hair and put both hands on the bottle. Her brilliant blue optics, shaped just like her mother's, never stopped looking into Abby's hazel eyes. Just then, all the adrenaline started to get out of her system, leaving her very tired. Abby leaned back onto the couch, and before she knew it, she was falling asleep, still clutching Arielle.

"This is so precious!" she heard Miko squeal.

"Shh, Miko, she's trying to sleep," whispered Bulkhead. Abby was silently grateful he'd said that. She was maybe less than a minute away from unconsciousness. Someone, probably Angela, lifted Arielle out of her arms.

"Bee, gimme a blanket," muttered Ratchet. Abby heard footsteps coming towards the balcony, and then, a fuzzy blanket was thrown on her. She then surrendered to the blissful, blissful sleep that awaited her.

Abby awoke some time later, to the sound of giggling. Orion and Arielle were playing with an empty bottle in front of the tv. Angela grinned. "Hey, you're awake! You've been out for hours!" she exclaimed. Miko tossed her a hairbrush, which probably meant that Abby had a serious bed head situation. She quickly brushed out her hair, hoping that neither of them had head lice.

"Do you humans shed that much?" cried Ratchet, staring at the amount of hair left in Miko's hairbrush.

Abby shrugged. "I don't know, mine's just thick," she answered, plucking a strand of her mahogany hair off the couch.

Just then, the groundbridge opened and closed. In walked the Primes, with Optimus half-carrying a groggy Elita.

"Just a five minute break, then I'll go out again," Elita mumbled, fighting unconsciousness.

"Actually, that won't be necessary." piped Raf.

Elita's head shot up, but she was still too groggy to respond.

"What do you mean?" Optimus asked.

Little Orion turned his head at the sound of Optimus' voice. He forgot about the empty bottle that he and Arielle were playing with and reached his little arms up.

"Dada!" he cried.

Arielle flung the bottle off the balcony in excitement, hitting Ratchet in the face.

Elita immediately ran over to them, followed by Optimus.

"Oh my goodness! Thank you thank you!" she cried, tears running down her face. The Sparklings hugged their mother's face despite the fact that they were much smaller.

"And 3...2...1..." Abby mentally counted as Angela pulled out her phone and took several pictures.

"Screw it if I take up space!" her friend squealed.

Elita handed her children over to Optimus and picked up her former cell mates. "Thank you so much! I can't thank you enough!" She cried, holding them to her chest.

"You're welcome, Elita." Angela said.

"Yeah they are adorable congrats!" Abby added.

"Ok, I hate to break up this happy moment but I believe you two have explaining to do." said Ratchet, folding his arms

"Party pooper." Abby muttered.

Angela giggled. "Ok so here's how it started..."

Chapter 3: The Lowest a Bot in Heels Can Go

"And...that's about it." Angela finished. Everyone sighed.

"Well the sparklings must've gotten shrunk down by a shrink ray of some sort" said Ratchet.

"Thank you, captain obvious!" mocked Abby, fake saluting.

Ratchet huffed. "There is a machine called the Reducer, which is now in the Harbinger. Along with Starscream," he explained. Angela stared at the wall for a few seconds, obviously deep in thought.

"Um, ok then. Abby can I see you? Now!?" Angela asked, urgently. Abby nodded, a bit confused, and she dragged Abby off into another room.

"What is it?" Abby asked, rubbing her wrist. "You have a strong grip you know that?"

Angela sighed and looked around in the separate rooms that was supposed to hold artifacts. "Where is she? Where is she?" Angela muttered to herself.

"Where is who?" Abby asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Arachnid, the spider lady I told you about a while back. Since Starscream is in the Harbinger, I knew that she was supposed to be in a stasis cell, but she is not here." Angela said, panic rising in her voice.

"Um, how is she not here?" Abby asked. Could it be the multiverse theory?

"When we brought Elita with us to the base, we changed the whole plot. Somehow, Arcee wasn't there when they faced Arachnid and she got away. Now she is still out there no doubt trying to terminate Megatron!" Angela cried.

"Great, we created a butterfly effect!" Abby exclaimed in annoyance.

Angela huffed. "Well, we can't say anything, but right now we have to get to the Harbinger and find Heels." she said, smacking her palms together.

"And that will help us how?" Abby asked.

Angela smirked. "Well, Ratchet said that Starscream had a reducer, right? If anything, he would know how to reverse it," she explained.

Abby nodded. "And we're not to tell the Autobots about the butterfly effect because it would create even more ripples," she clarified.

"Right," agreed Angela.

The girls stepped out of the trophy room.

"Ok we are ready to go and force Heels to give us the reducer!" Angela said, beaming.

Elita stepped in front of them, optics blazing. "Absolutely not! You cannot go to Starscream. He'll blast you the first chance he gets!" she exclaimed.

Abby gulped. "Well, Starcscream may only listen to us, 'cause, no offense, you all have bad history with him." she explained, taking a few steps back.

Elita still held firm.

Arcee rolled her eyes. "Oh, like you don't," she scoffed.

Optimus frowned. "Are you certain you can handle Strascream?" he asked carefully.

"Ask them, they saw us in action." said Angela, pointing to the Sparklings. Everyone turned. Both Arielle and Orion were sound asleep. "Maybe later, but we will call for back up if anything goes wrong. And besides, he won't sense us coming," Abby reasoned.

Optimus and Elita exchanged a glance. They stared into each other's optics for several seconds, communicating without speaking. Abby had to elbow Angela in the ribs to keep her from squealing audibly, but she had to admit, it was cute.

Elita sighed. "Very well, you may go," she conceded, folding her arms, "But be careful!" she added.

The girls nodded gravely. Everyone knew the stakes.

Ratchet opened the groundbridge. "If you die, I'll kill you!" he warned, mainly addressing Abby. Miko nodded in agreement.

"Thanks Ratchet," Abby laughed.

He activated the groundbridge.

Taking a deep breath, the girls ran through, leaving the concerned bots behind.

"I can't believe Elita didn't fling me against a wall," Abby stated as the groundbridge closed behind them.

"Well, you and I are pretty charismatic. Now to find that rust bucket," Angela declared.

"You mean Heels, right?" Abby asked.

Angela shook her head. "No...the ship," she said.

Abby rolled her eyes and drew her lightsaber. There was no telling what other company that Starscream kept. They soon came into a thicket of trees.

"Ok so the Harbinger should just behind this forest to the...what the blazes!" Angela exclaimed.

Abby gasped. Fallen trees were scattered around, still smoldering. And in the middle was a giant pod.

"Um, is this part of the..." Abby asked, her voice trailing off. But Angela's shocked look gave it away. Warning bells rang in her head. Perhaps this was the consequence of their little adventure. Angela crept over to the pod and climbed on top of it.

"Wait!" Abby cried, motioning wildly with her hands, "We should make sure it's safe before we-" Angela unlocked the pod. "...open it." she finished.

She held her lightsaber in fighting stance, prepping for a fight. Angela jumped down and put on her gloves.

There was a hissing noise. The door to the pod slid open, and there lay a dark gray bot inside the pod. The bot opened his eyes. He stirred for a moment, trying to adjust to the light. The girls backed up, putting as much space as possible between them and the pod. His hand grabbed the edge of the pod and he pulled himself up. Abby noticed the Autobot symbol on his arm and relaxed a little.

The bot looked around, trying to get to know his surroundings. His wide, electric blue eyes widened even more when he saw the girls. "Where am I? And what are you?" He asked, pointing to the girls.

"You're on Earth, a planet far away from Cybertron." Abby explained, putting away her lightsaber.

"And we are humans, one of the many life forms that inhabit this planet." Angela added.

The newbie bent down to get a better look at them.

"Wow, you humans are really tiny." he observed. The girls laughed. Abby, for once, didn't mind. She stepped forward.

"Yeah, but there are smaller creatures. My name's Abby," she explained.

"And I'm Angela!" her friend exclaimed.

They did their best to shake hands, despite their size difference.

"My name is Neron Altair. And what did you mean smaller creatures?" he asked.

"Um... hey, there's one right here!" Angela exclaimed and she picked up a daddy-long leg. She held it out for Neron to see. "AHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, running back five feet.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Abby asked, walking over too him. The look on his face was comical. She withstood the urge to laugh. After all, she wouldn't like it if someone laughed at her fears. "T-t-that thing is like a small Arachnid!" Neron stammered.

Angela put it back on the ground and found another creature. "I'm sorry, Neron I didn't know. Here, maybe you'll like this little guy," Angela said, reaching out her hand once more.

"What is it?" he inquired as the creature flew on to his giant finger.

"It's called a butterfly." Angela giggled. The butterfly flew away and Neron waved at it.

"Well as much as I hate interrupt this...intriguing relationship between different species. I would love to join." interrupted someone. They turned.

Neron gasped. "Y-y-you!" He exclaimed. Angela glared.

"Arachnid," she spat. The spider con laughed. "Well, it seems my legacy proceeds me," She said proudly.

Abby snorted. "Yeah, a legacy of failure," she sassed.

Arachnid glared. "I would be careful if I were you, human. It would be a shame if I scalped you before the fun begins," she hissed.

Abby instinctively grabbed her head. Arachnid turned. "Neron! It's been too long," she exclaimed in mock surprise. Neron shuddered. Abby didn't blame him. She was already imagining the blade that would go in her head, slicing deeper and deeper...

"Ok, you know what, eight legs, we got off on the wrong foot." Angela blurted. Arachnid hissed in response.

"Ok this is a human thing that we do when we meet someone we don't know. It's called RUN FOR IT!" Abby cried.

And for like the fifth time in that world, they ran from a decepticon.

"This is athletic!" Angela noted as she dodged a spider web the 'con shot at them.

"Why is she here!" Neron screamed, clearly terrified.

"Got stranded on Earth not important how!" Abby exclaimed, hurdling over a fallen tree. Somehow, she didn't trip over it.

"Come on, we are almost there!" Angela called. Abby saw the Harbinger right before her eyes. It wasn't much of a ship, but there was no denying that it was a Decepticon ship.

"Why is that here?" Neron exclaimed. Arachnid lunged at them. Before she could reach Angela, an invisible force pushed her back.

"Huh, sorry Arachnid, I guess opposites don't attract!" Angela called and joined Abby and Neron in the Harbinger.

"Well, that was fun." Abby said sarcastically, panting.

"Well we just need to grab the shrink ray and call for..." Angela was interrupted by a familiar sound coming towards them. The sound of heels clanking on the floor. It reminded her of when they were captured.

"Crap, it's Starscream!" Abby whispered heatedly.

Abby, Angela, and Neron jumped into a nearby closet, with Neron having to curl up in a ball to fit in there. The footsteps came closer and closer until they could see Starscream's heeled feet through the slats in the door. He stopped right in front of the door. The trio held their breath. Abby prayed that he wouldn't open that door, but between him and Arachnid, she would take Starscream. After a few seconds, he moved on. All three of them let out a silent sigh of relief. Abby opened the door a crack and peered out. Starscream was now pretty far away from them, all the way at the end of the hall. Suddenly, he was struck by a web and fell down. Hard.

"Argh! Arachnid! Show yourself!" Starscream exclaimed, struggling in the webbing.

Arachnid climbed down from the ceiling, laughing.

"Hello Starscream," she cackled. Starscream managed to get the web off of his face.

"What do you want from me?" he snapped. Arachnid shrugged.

"Well, if you must know, it's been a rough week for me. I failed my mission, got kicked out by Megatron, had my armada taken away, and, just today, some prey escaped from me."

Now that both of their attention was occupied, Abby cautiously opened the door even more and stepped out. She motioned for Angela and Neron to follow. The three of them crept down the opposite way down the hallway and rounded the corner. Abby poked her head around the corner, preparing to duck if she needed to.

Arachnid kept on talking "And I thought to myself, who better to take it out on THAN YOU!" she screamed, launching herself at Starscream. Three things flew through Abby's head at the same time.

1: Arachnid was much more of a threat than Starscream would ever be.

2: There was no way they could take her out, even if all three of them attacked at the same time. Neron could freeze up and Arachnid would probably overpower both Abby and Angela.

3: They needed her to flee.

But how? She and Angela exchanged a glance, and a germ of an idea formed in her head. Angela took out her blaster. Abby took out her phone, pressed an app and spoke in it.

"Arachnid! Surrender now!" she ordered, in Optimus' voice. Both rouge cons froze. They looked around, searching for the source of the voice.

"And what if I don't?" Arachnid called, slightly amused.

Angela pressed a similar app on her phone, still pointing her blaster at Arachnid's head.

"Well, let's just say I wouldn't want to be in your shoes. Human term." Angela said in Bulkhead's voice.

She then shot at Arachnid. It barely missed the hunter's head.

"That was your final warning!" Bulkhead's voice rang out. Arachnid took one final look around, and then turned back to Starscream.

"You won't escape me next time," she threatened.

Arachnid jumped out a nearby window and ran into the forest.

Starscream gulped.

"Ok, you can come out and take me prisoner Optimus!" the trapped con yelled out.

The girls shoved Neron forward, and he walked toward Starscream.

"You're not Optimus." he said in surprise.

Abby stepped forward. "And you're not a Decepticon lord," she said.

"Oh Primus no... It's you two again," Starscream grumbled. Angela smirked.

"Yeah, it's us! What? We don't get a 'thank you' for saving your tailpipe?"

Chapter 4: Who knew?

"What are you two scraplets doing here!" Starscream exclaimed, struggling through the webbing.

"Watching you get your aft beat by crazy eight legs," Abby sassed.

Neron looked down at Angela. "Is she always like this?" he whispered.

Angela shook her head. "Not all the time, just don't get on her bad side." she explained.

Abby may be a bit abrasive at times, but she was a caring person at heart and the most loyal friend she'd ever had.

Starscream groaned. "Well, the show's over. You can leave now," he grumbled, tearing off a swath of web. Abby drew her lightsaber, making Starscream freeze.

"Nope. There is something here we want, and you are going to show us where it is," Abby ordered, pointing the lightsaber at his spark. Angela couldn't help but notice that Abby had to stand on her tip toes to point it directly at his spark.

"How do I know you won't hurt me?" Starscream asked, backing up a few steps.

Abby sighed, and cut the webbing off of him.

"That enough proof?" she asked, lowering her lightsaber.

Starscream gulped and stood up.

"Um, yes very...What do you need?" he inquired, changing the subject.

Angela walked towards him. "The Reducer. Ratchet says you have it," she said. Starscream exhaled through gritted teeth.

"I don't care about Ratchet, nor why you need the reducer. In fact, I should probably throw all three of you out of my ship," he growled.

Abby stepped forward. "And may I remind you, if you try to hurt us, we will call the rest of the team here with just a push of a button. And you know their policy. If you hurt a human, they will do the exact same thing to you," she threatened, making Strascream flinch.

"Y-yes of course follow me." Starscream stuttered. Angela smirked. Abby had told a half-lie about calling the team instantly. She must've been counting on Starscream's cowardice in order for that threat to work. And it did. However, she was not lying about the "hurt the human, we hurt you" policy. Elita, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee were the ones who mainly enforced it. They followed him through the winding passageways, with Angela keeping her magnets ready. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Neron seemed uneasy.

"You ok?" Abby asked, before Angela had a chance to. No answer.

"You've been awfully quiet since spider bot showed up, so what gives?" she continued. Neron sighed.

"I'll explain later when he isn't around," he whispered, staring at Starscream's wings. Starscream frowned.

"I'm not deaf!" he snapped, making Angela laugh. Starscream made an abrupt turn right, so sudden that Abby had to pull Angela to the side to avoid a collision.

In the room that they entered, there was a small, human sized desk. That was weird. It was rare to find human sized objects in a Decepticon warship. On the desk lay a normal looking gun, aside from the Decepticon lettering on it.

"That must be it," Angela thought to herself. Quick as a flash, she ran over to it.

Starscream folded his arms.

"Well if that's all you can..." The former con was interrupted when Angela used her magnets to close the door, nearly wiping out her friends.

"No, we need a test subject," she smirked.

"Angela, don't!" cried Abby, but it was too late. Angela had already pulled the trigger. A bright orange beam hit Starscream square in the chest. In a matter of seconds, he had shrunken down several feet. When the orange light was gone, Starscream stood maybe two inches taller than Angela.

"You measly human! Look what you done!" he cried, as Abby took a quick picture. She and Neron were both laughing to the point that they could barely breathe.

Angela laughed right along with them, and then scoffed. "Relax Heels, I'll just do the reverse switch and you'll be your normal size in no time," she said, examining the gun for another switch.

"No, that is only half of the reducer! The other half is on the NEMISIS!" Starscream bellowed. The girls stared at him.

"And you couldn't have told us before we shrunk you!" cried Abby in exasperation.

Angela turned on her walkie-talkie. "Ratchet, we need a ground bridge," she said.

There was silence. Three seconds later, the groundbridge appeared. Abby and Angela ran through, followed by Neron and Starscream. Angela hoped that he was keeping an eye on Heels, because Heels had a long history of backstabbing people. Literally.

She ran into the base.

"Hold your fire!" she shouted. Everyone stared.

"Um, okay," said Bulkhead, with a confused expression on his face.

Abby stepped through. "Yeah, we brought some guests," she explained.

Ratchet folded his arms. "Guests? Oh, just what I always-" He was cut off by an annoyed shout.

"Put me down, you imbecile!" yelled Starscream, wriggling around in Neron's hand.

Laughter erupted from the balcony, where Jack, Raf, and Miko were standing.

Arcee whirled around. "You...brought...Starscream?" she asked, looking like she was resisting the urge to strangle the two of them.

Angela stared at the ground. "Yeah, we kinda had to," she mumbled, half-expecting to be flung against the wall.

Bumblebee beeped, gesturing to Neron.

"He wants to know who the new bot is," translated Raf.

Neron stepped forward. "My name is Neron Altair. These two woke me up from my pod," he explained, gesturing to Angela and Abby. Angela noticed that Elita's optics were drawn to the Autobot symbol on Neron's arm. Optimus seemed to notice it, too. Abby looked up at Neron. "So, do you like it here?" she asked him. Neron put Starscream down.

"It's different, in a good way," he smiled.

Optimus approached Neron and shook his hand. "Welcome to Earth, Neron," he said.

Neron beamed. "Thank you Optimus, it's an honor to meet you," he replied.

Starscream grunted. "Why am I here?" he griped.

Abby glared at him. "Because YOUR reducer shrunk Arielle and Orion so YOU are going to help us fix it!" she shouted.

Starscream stared at her.

Angela laughed. "You just got SERVED!" she said to him.

He glared at the ground, but then looked up with a malicious look in his optics.

"Well, I for one believe we should be more careful around those two. It would be a shame if something happened..." Starscream suggested, his gaze settling on Orion and Arielle. Elita scooped them up in her hand and Optimus stepped in front of his family, blocking them from Starscream's line of vision. Bumblebee dove behind Arcee. She stood in front of him, guns out.

"Angela, hold my stuff," Abby mumbled, tossing her weapons to Angela.

"Ok, why do you want me to..." She was interrupted when her friend punched Starscream in the face. Hard.

He toppled over, mostly because he was only half a foot taller than Abby (instead of the usual twelve). Besides, Angela could tell that Heels didn't see it coming.

"Ow! What was that for?!" he yelled.

"For, oh I don't know, threatening the sparklings!" Abby yelled back.

"Ok, we are getting of topic we need to get that ray and get this situated!" Ratchet exclaimed, but he was ignored.

"Well I would be in this mess if someone didn't shrink me down!" Starscream spat, shooting a nasty look at Angela. She glared.

"Hey! I didn't know there was two haves you should have mentioned that!"

"Well I'm stuck like this thanks to you!"

"You know we still haven't gotten a 'thank you' for saving your tailpipe from Arachnid!" Angela yelled. Everyone froze. Bumblebee dropped a wrench into a pile of Ratchet's spare parts, but for once, he didn't notice. Arcee

"Wait whoa hold up. You saw Arachnid?!" Jack sputtered.

"Yeah she tried to..." Neron trailed off.

Abby looked at him, concerned. "Are you ok?" she asked.

"And don't tell us that you're fine, because you're clearly not," added Angela.

Neron sighed. "It might as well come out now. My mother and I were on Arachnid's hit list, probably because we were Autobots. One night, she climbed into my bedroom window and tried to tear my spark. My mother heard me screaming and burst into my room. She fought Arachnid head on. In my muddled mind, I remembered that my mom told me to run if something like that happened. So I did. I managed to get out of the house, but I was bleeding Energon everywhere. Luckily, another Autobot found me and got me the medical care I needed. But I never saw my mother again after that," he mumbled, voice cracking a little.

"How old were you?" asked Bulkhead.

Neron didn't look up. "I was still a Sparkling."

By then, the atmosphere in the base was so thick, Angela thought she could cut it with a knife. Everybody had the same shocked look on their face. Even Heels looked pretty shocked. Surprising. Arcee and Bumblebee walked over and sat down next to him.

"I've lost someone to Arachnid too. I know it's such a useless word, but I'm sorry," she said.

Bumblebee nodded in agreement.

"Ok, see ya." Angela said walking to the door. Abby stopped her.

"And where are you going?" she asked.

"To kill Arachnid." Angela replied, like it was a daily occurrence.

"Angela no just no." Abby warned.

"I'm kidding she scares me a little." Angela admitted.

Her friend raised her eyebrows. "A little?! She literally threatened to scalp me!" Abby cried.

"She did what now?" growled Ratchet with a dangerous edge in his voice.

Angela shook her head. "Never mind that, we need to come up with a plan," she said.

"Well, we need to storm the Nemesis, so Starscream will lead us to the maximizer while everyone but Rust bucket and Neron distract the Decepticons." Abby said.

Neron shook his head. "No, I'm coming with you." he said firmly.

"Are you sure? It's high-risk mission," Angela protested.

Neron smiled. "There's gotta be at least one competent Cybertronian around to give you a hand," he declared, eyeing Starscream. Angela giggled.

"Do I get a say in this? I'm grounded and I have no weapons!" Starscream huffed.

Angela huffed right back at him and tossed him her blaster.

"Here, mister whiny pants," she snapped. Starscream looked at it.

"Wait, how do you know he won't just shoot you?" Arcee asked.

Angela, smirked. "Like this." Angela walked in front of the heeled con and spread her arms out.

"Starscream...shoot me."

Everyone stared.

"Angela no!" Elita cried.

"Are you crazy you'll get fried!" Abby, Miko, and Raf exclaimed simultaneously. Strascream just looked at her and Angela nodded. He pulled the trigger.

Before you could say 'Heels' Angela's hand reached out and the beam froze. She stopped it.

"Whoa!" Jack gasped.

"That was awesome!" Abby cried.

"Thanks," Angela smiled. She balled her hand into a fist and the beam flew past Starscream's side.

"How did you do that?" asked Optimus curiously.

"The blasters beam has tiny pieces of metal in them so I came make them stop if used against me,"Angela explained.

"Nerd alert." Miko said.

"Yep, we're both nerds," Abby agreed.

"Well now that it's settled we have a ray to find!" Angela exclaimed. Raf opened the groundbridge, giving them a thumbs up.

"Pound 'em to a pulp for me, will ya?!" called Miko, who was being restrained by Jack.

Bulkhead smiled. "Will do!" he called back.

"Autobots and guests! Roll out!" ordered Optimus, grabbing Elita's hand. The team ran through the groudbridge, straight towards whatever fate that awaited them.

Chapter 5: If I Die Today

Abby walked down the halls of the Nemesis and shivered. She was having some serious flashbacks about the last time she was there.

"Are we almost there? I don't know how long they can keep the cons busy," Angela said.

"We would be there by now if I was my normal height but I'm afraid it will take us a while before we reach there," Starscream grumbled.

Angela rolled her eyes in annoyance. Abby moaned in annoyance. Does he ever stop whining? Oh wait. He doesn't! Neron looked around the ship, clearly cautious about his surroundings.

Abby looked over at Angela. Her friend was stopped in her tracks, eyes widened. Angela pointed at something. "Ahh..." Abby covered Angela's mouth with her hand before she could give away their location. Once she saw what Angela was looking at, she didn't blame her for nearly screaming.

There was a green, acid-like slime spattered on the walls, along with puddles of energon. All four of them knew what that meant.

"Arachnid. She must have found the ship," Abby said grimly, letting go of Angela's mouth.

Neron's face hardened. "Come on. We'd better get going before-"

Laughter echoed in the halls before he could finish. Starscream moaned.

The spider con herself walked over to them and chuckled.

"Well, it is a small world. And Starscream, I see that you got a new look. I must say, it suits you," she smirked.

Starscream pulled the trigger. Arachnid dodged by jumping over them.

"Let's make this simple. I'll finish you, and you don't have to worry about me anymore. How do you like that?" she asked coyly.

Abby shuddered. This would not end well. She readied her lightsaber. Angela readied her magnets.

Arachnid laughed. "You really think those toys can stop me? Well, if you insist, let's play!" she cackled. Neron froze. Arachnid shoved him out of the way and shot some webbing at the rest of them, most of it hitting Abby's leg. The rest of it hit Angela's magnets, rendering them useless. The force of the hit knocked the lightsaber from her hand. "Ha! I always wanted to get you first!" Arachnid cried triumphantly. Abby reached for her lightsaber, but her fingers strained just short of the hilt. Angela tried to pull her friend free, but Arachnid fired again, trapping both Starscream and Angela against the wall. "I hope that I provide a good enough show for you," the crazy spider said to Starscream.

Abby stopped struggling. If anybody deserved to survive besides Angela, it was Neron. She turned to him.

"Run," Abby mouthed.

She closed her eyes. Then she opened them. Abby vowed that she would not go out like a coward. She would keep her eyes open for as long as she could. Arachnid advanced on her, pointing one of her sharp legs at her. She sucked in a breath, hoping to God that it would be quick.

Neron stayed frozen. Memories of his mother getting trapped by Arachnid poured through his head. Images of the human girl, Abby, rushed in there as well. She was trapped. She was going to endure the same fate as his mother. The cruel irony was that both Abby and his mother had told him to run before Arachnid got them. She had reached Abby now. Arachnid slashed the girl's forehead, not deep, just toying with her. Abby's hand went to her head. It came away red. The red fluid dripped onto the floor. What was the word? Blood, he remembered. Something snapped inside of him. He would not run again, not if it meant death.

"No more!" Neron cried.

Faster than ever, he ran over to Arachnid and punched her as hard has he could. She flew twenty feet back, knocked out cold. Out of the corner of his optic, he could see Angela ripping the webs off of her magnets and using them to stick Arachnid to the ceiling. He picked up Abby and pulled her out of the webbing. "Thank you so much! I thought I was dead meat!" she cried, wiping some of the blood off her face with her sleeve.

Neron nodded. "I couldn't bear to run again," he admitted.

"Okay let's bolt!" Starscream cried as Abby cut the web with her lightsaber. "Be patient, Starscream," Abby said.

Angela hugged her. "Abby! I'm so glad you're alive!" she cried.

Abby smiled. "Me too, Angela, me too," she said.

She frowned. Her forehead wound would not stop bleeding, and the blood was obstructing her vision. Abby took off her left shoe and sock, put her shoe back on, and held the sock to her wound as they ran. It felt a little weird, but at least it was something. They stopped at a door that looked small enough to be a closet. Starscream opened the door. The room inside was a lot bigger than the door indicated. And inside the room sat a gun similar to the shrink ray, except it was tinged blue. Angela used her magnets to bring it down and she handed it to Neron.

"Okay, now make me big again!" Starscream ordered.

"Sorry Heels, we have to wait until we are back at the base." Angela said, shrugging. They stepped out of the room, only to run into Dreadwing. Abby gulped. She could see that he was still pretty ticked off about getting stabbed with her lightsaber. But this time, his anger wasn't directed at her. Yet.

"Starscream! You will pay for your actions against the Decepticons!" he growled, and drawing his gun.

"Dreadwing no!" Angela cried.

Both Abby and Neron stared. "What is she doing?" Abby thought to herself.

"Why wouldn't I shoot him? He is the reason my twin is gone!" Dreadwing shouted, pointing at Starscream, who cowed behind Angela.

She sighed, her face showing the pity that she felt.

"Dreadwing, killing Starscream isn't the answer. I have a sibling too, you know. A sister. I could only imagine the pain of losing her, but getting revenge won't change anything. It would just lead to more grieving for others. I know you're upset about Skyquake's death, but believe me when I say...revenge won't bring him back," she breathed.

Abby nodded in agreement. "Yeah, just look at Elita. She lost her sister in almost the same circumstances you did, but did she get revenge? No. She rose above it and moved on, and I suggest you do that as well," she added.

Dreadwing stared at them. By the look on his face, he had not received sympathy from anyone before, let alone a human. Before he could say anything, another 'con walked up.

Starscream frowned. "Hi, Knockout," he muttered.

Knockout smirked. "Starscream! It's been too long." His gaze shifted to the rest of them. "And I see you brought some friends," he added.

Starscream folded his arms. "They're not my friends," he spat.

Knockout paid no attention. His gaze lingered on Abby's head wound. "Is that blood?" he addressed.

Abby rolled her eyes. "No, I spilled cranberry juice on my head," she said, her voice laden with sarcasm.

Knockout laughed harshly. "Well, aren't you the little spitfire, human. Oh, and Neron, your father is waiting for you," he added, nodding to Neron.

"Well, tell him to shove it up his aft, because I am never changing sides. I am an Autobot, like my mother," he declared.

Angela cocked her head to the side. "Father?" she asked.

"Megatron," he muttered. Abby dropped her sock on the floor in shock. Angela froze. Starscream choked. Neron, one of the sweetest bots she knew, who had saved them all from Arachnid, was Megatron's son? It seemed impossible, but it must be true. Neron would never lie.

Knockout shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, gesturing for the nearby Veicons to attack.

"Okay, time to make our exit," Abby said, picking up her blood-soaked sock. They sprinted as fast as they could to the end of the hallway. Abby opened the door at the end of the hallway. It led to a drop. This time, nobody hesitated. They didn't have time. Starscream jumped off first landing gracefully and Abby landed in his arms. They stood awkwardly for a moment. "This. Means. Nothing," she hissed, jumping out of his arms. Angela was in Neron's arms with the maximizer when he jumped down. He lowered her to the ground.

"Okay now time to...whoa!" Angela cried. The Veicons had caught up to them. Neron transformed into a pickup truck.

"Hop in!" he cried. Even knowing that Neron was Megatron's son, Angela hopped in. She still trusted him. How could she not? He had protected and listened to them throughout their adventure. Abby sat in the driver's seat, Angela sat in the passenger's seat, and Starscream sat in the back. Mostly because of his wingspan. Neron accelerated to sixty miles per hour in just a few seconds.

"Abby, don't touch the steering wheel!" warned Angela.

Most of the Autobots had an unofficial rule that, when in danger, they drove, no questions asked.

Abby put her one free hand in the air. "I'm not. I know the-"

BOOM! Neron was hit by a powerful blast, forcing him to revert back to his normal form. The three were launched from the truck. Luckily, Neron had slammed on the brakes, so they didn't fall out at sixty miles per hour. Angela landed at the edge of a cliff. She was dangling off the edge, holding on by one hand. Her hand slipped, and she would have fallen to her death had Abby not grabbed her hand. But Angela wasn't sure if her friend had the strength to pull her up.

"Hang on!" Abby yelled, her wound bleeding again from exertion.

Angela whipped her head from side to side. Neron was trying to keep the cons at bay, while Starscream was running to the maximizer.

"Starscream! Do something useful for once and help me!" Abby cried, straining with all her might to pull her up.

Starscream ignored her and reached for the ray. He just wanted to be big again. Angela struggled to hold onto her friend's hand, but it was hard, since both of their hands were becoming increasingly sweaty. Abby kept slipping farther and farther down. It was clear that she would soon fall down with her. She inhaled, summoning all the courage she had.

"Abby...tell my family I love them." Angela choked.

Abby's eyes widened. "Angela don't say that! Your birthday is next week! Please don't!" she begged, knowing what was on her mind. Angela felt tears well into her eyes.

"Tell Tess she meant the universe to me and I will always love her," she breathed, taking one last look at her surroundings, "And I want you to know that you are the best friend that anyone can ask for."

Tears ran down Abby's face, mixing with the blood. "You are too," she whispered, her voice breaking. Gone was her usual bravado.

"Take care of Tess," Angela muttered.

She let go of Abby's hand.

"NOOOOOOO!" Abby screamed, reaching helplessly down.

Angela saw her life flash before her eyes. She saw many faces. But the ones that appeared the most was the Autobots' caring ones, her parents' laugh, her little sister Tess' endearing smile, and Abby's face, both smiling and then horrified. Angela muttered the words of the Hail Mary to herself

Hail Mary, full or grace, the Lord is with thee

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

That last line kept reverberating in her head.

Hour of our death.

An hour ago, she wouldn't have dreamed that she would be dead in that amount of time. Well, that was life. You never really knew when death would take you. What would the Autobots say when they find out about her death? Would they even find her body? The ground was approaching fast. She prayed that Abby would someday be able to forgive her for what she'd done. More so, she prayed that Abby would be able to forgive herself.

She fell on something, hard. Only, it wasn't the canyon ground. Angela opened her eyes. She was sitting in an airplane seat. It dawned on her in that moment that she wasn't dead.

Dreadwing had saved her.

"W-why did you catch me?" asked Angela, her voice hoarse.

Dreadwing's response was short. "Your sister does not deserve to feel the pain of losing a sibling," he said curtly. And that was all he said for the rest of the flight back up.

The scream that Abby screamed when Angela had fallen was not human. It was wild, primal, and filled with agony. But she didn't care. Not anymore. The closest person she had to a sister was gone. Let the Decepticons shoot her, let Arachnid scalp her. Worse of all, let her go home and explain everything that happened and live with a part of her heart chiseled out forever. How could the Autobots deal with this on a somewhat regular basis? How could they deal with the agony of losing a part of your heart that would never heal? Something flew above her head. Abby ignored it. It was meaningless now, anyway. The world had lost its color, the sun had lost its light. She leaned farther forward, but she was scooped up into someone's palm. Neron. Neron, son of a Decepticon. Who knew the guilt of being too weak to save a life. He didn't say anything, he just held her. Then, he pointed to the sky. Reluctantly, Abby looked in the direction that Neron was pointing to. A Decepticon was flying above them, with a familiar silhouette in the cockpit. It was Angela.

Abby ran to the place where the Decepticon-Dreadwing!- had landed. Such relief and euphoria filled her that she could barely hold it in. The two girls embraced each other at the same time. She hugged her friend tight, sobbing into Angela's shoulder. Abby was aware that she was being watched by several bots, but she didn't care. Angela didn't say anything, she just held her and let her cry. After a few minutes, Abby stopped crying.

"I thought you had died," she said hollowly.

Angela smiled. "I would have, if Dreadwing hadn't have caught me," she said. They turned around. But Dreadwing had already left. The entire Autobot team had arrived.

"You need to get that bandaged up," said Optimus, with concern in his voice. Ratchet stepped forward. She held up a hand.

"In a minute. Why don't you check Neron first, because I have something to do," Abby declared. She turned to Starscream with a look of undenying rage, murder in her blotchy eyes. His optics widened in fear and he started to run. But he was too slow. Abby ran after him, sprinting as fast as she could. Within five seconds, she had tackled him and pinned him down. She punched him over and over again in the face, chest, and anywhere her fists landed.

"You IDIOT! Angela almost DIED because of you!" she yelled.

Starscream could only cower. Optimus stepped forward to try and break up the fight, but Elita held him back. Bulkhead turned up his communicator so Jack, Raf, and Miko could hear. By then, Abby's knuckles were split and bleeding, but she didn't even notice the pain. Angela held her back. "Don't do that!" she cried. Abby turned to face her friend, shocked.

But Angela only took off her magnetic gloves. "Here take these! They'll protect your knuckles and your punches will hurt more!" she advised, taking out her phone.

Abby put on the gloves. "Thanks!" she smiled. She turned back to Starscream and continued her barrage, now with Angela filming.

"There are A MILLION THINGS I can say to you right now, but I will only say a few!" Abby yelled, punching him with all the strength she had. She switched to Spanish so the she wouldn't get chewed out by Optimus later. Hopefully, she would use the right words.

"¡Maldito cobarde! ¡Debería arrancarle tu corazón y arrojarlo a los lobos, jodido perra!" she shouted. Abby paused for breath. Starscream was now covered with scuff marks and scratches. There was even a little Energon trickling out from some of his cuts. His face had taken the worst of the beating, though. She was surprised that nobody had tried to restrain her yet. Then, she heard a gasp coming from Bulkhead's walkie talkie. It was Raf. He'd probably understood every single word she had said. Oops. But Starscream deserved it.

Angela stopped recording. "That was awesome!" she cried.

Abby smiled and picked up her own walkie talkie. "Raf, please don't repeat that," she pleaded. "Oh don't worry, I won't," Raf replied, sounding shocked. She didn't blame him.

"Use your lightsaber on him," suggested Arcee, aiming a kick at Starscream's side. Abby started to reach for her lightsaber, but Optimus shook his head.

"No, that is enough. Let's go back to base," he said, scooping Abby up and off of Starscream. Everyone nodded. That was enough near-death experiences for one day.

Chapter 6: Setting things right

As soon as the groundbridge closed behind them, everyone seemed to scatter to different places. Ratchet took Abby and Neron over to the infirmary where June was waiting, Optimus and Elita went to go check on the Sparklings, and everyone else congregated in the middle. Jack ran down the steps.

"Nice job!" he congratulated.

Angela was about to respond when a loud voice rang out.

"PRIME!"

Everyone turned. Agent Fowler stood in front of the elevator, arms folded. "Why were two human kids in combat!" he shouted.

"Sorry, he broke us." Miko mumbled.

"Agent Fowler..." Optimus started, holding Arielle in his hand.

Angela held her hand up.

"I'll handle this," she assured, walking up to the agent. After all, almost nothing was scarier than what she and Abby had just faced.

"Agent Fowler, my name is Angela, and this is my friend Abby. Please don't blame Optimus for letting us go into combat. We were just trying to retrieve the ray that would allow the sparklings to return to their normal height. We didn't mean to cause you any alarm, so if you want to yell at anyone yell at me. I'm the one that had the idea to go into enemy fire," Angela appealed.

Fowler arched an eyebrow. "Is that so?" he asked, turning towards Optimus. She heard the sound of someone running. It was Abby, her face clean and now with a bandage around her head. She barreled towards Angela, with June in hot pursuit.

"Don't run! You'll reopen it!" June shouted. Abby didn't listen. She stepped in front of Angela.

"It's my fault, sir. I suggested that we go fight and everyone went along with it because we were running out of time," Abby explained, panting. Angela stared. She had never heard her friend call anyone "sir" before. Agent Fowler smirked. "Well, I appreciate that you two admitted that. It takes guts, you know," he said.

They smiled and shook hands. Ratchet and Neron stepped out of the infirmary and joined the crowd.

"Um, Optimus? I understand if you don't trust me to be on your team," Neron said awkwardly.

"Are you kidding? We trust you with our lives!" Bulkhead exclaimed, playfully whacking Neron on the back.

"Y-you do?" Neron asked, rubbing his back. Angela and Abby exchanged a glance. Looks like Neron's secret was still under wraps.

"Neron, you've proved more than once that you are on our side," Eilta said, walking over to Abby with a squirming Orion in her palm.

"Yeah and even if you did betray us you would have been pounded to a pulp!" Miko exclaimed.

Angela laughed. "Speaking of beating people to a pulp, you HAVE to watch this," she said, passing her phone to Miko, who just stared at it.

"Press play." Angela whispered.

Neron smiled. "Thank you all, really," He said. Miko was laughing to the point of tears at the video. By the time it was finished, she could barely breathe. Angela smiled and took back her phone.

"Okay enough sappy stuff make me big again!" Starscream complained.

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Give us a good reason, Screamer," she said, folding her arms.

"I'm supposed to be big!" he cried.

" _You_ were supposed to save Angela!" Abby retorted.

"Well, then who would get the ray?!" he shouted.

"You idiot! Angela could have used her magnets to get the ray!" Abby yelled.

Angela sighed. Why does Abby have to fight all the time?! Well, Starscream deserved it this time, but still. She was about to give her friend a piece of her mind, but something stopped her. Abby had been through a lot in just a few hours. Angela took the ray. She walked up to Abby and put her hand on her shoulder.

"You know, Abby, we should do Starscream first," she said.

"Good idea," Abby smirked, winking at Bulkhead.

"Yeah we need to make sure he doesn't blow up or something!" Angela laughed.

"Do you want to do the honors?" asked Abby, gesturing to the ray.

Angela smirked. "I would love to," she replied. She pointed the ray at a now terrified Starscream. The look on his face was almost worth all that they had been through. Angela pulled the trigger. A blue beam shot out, hitting the rouge con's face. She counted the seconds to herself. One, two, three, four, fi-

Starscream once again towered over them.

"Great, it works!" Raf exclaimed happily.

"And I have returned to my former glory!" cried Starscream triumphantly.

Abby scoffed. "Glory being a relative term," she mumbled under her breath.

Elita snorted. "You've got that right," she muttered back.

"Ok Bulkhead..." Angela signaled. Bulkhead nodded. He snuck up behind Starscream and knocked him out in one punch.

"Nice!" cheered Fowler.

"Okay, let's get him out before he come to," Arcee said.

"Agreed," everyone chorused.

Arcee dragged Starscream's limp body towards the groundbridge. "Where should we send him?" she asked, turning towards the others.

"How about the Arctic?" suggested Abby.

Optimus frowned. "No, he would certainly freeze to death," he said.

"That's his problem," Bulkhead shrugged.

Elita sighed. "As much as I despise Starscream, I do not think that we should dump him in the Arctic. We all know how much he has wronged me and many others in the past, but it would not be right to wrong him in the same way. We'd be no better than he is, and I have no intention of sinking to his level," she stated. Everyone froze in silent awe.

"She's right," said Neron, after a long silence. Bumblebee nodded in agreement.

"Well said," agreed June, giving Elita a round of applause.

Optimus smiled. "Then I suppose we should send him back to the Harbinger," he said.

As soon as the groundbridge opened, Bumblebee and Arcee picked up Starscream and threw him through. Ratchet switched off the groundbridge.

Elita placed Arielle and Orion on the floor, where they started to play with some old bolts. Angela stepped back from the ray.

"Go ahead," she said, gesturing to the ray.

Abby had better aim than hers, but not by much. But accuracy mattered now more than ever. Her friend pointed the ray at the unaware Sparklings. Angela prayed to God that this would work. And that Abby wouldn't miss, or the Sparklings would move out of range. Abby inhaled and exhaled audibly. She shot the ray. Angela (and the rest of the world, it seemed) held their breath. The beam stayed on its course, hitting both Sparklings. Hopefully, since they were smaller, it would go faster. The only way to tell was to count. One, two, three-.

The beam disappeared. The whole base let out one collective sigh of relief.

The twins were back to normal.

Well, normal being a relative term, as Sparklings grow at a faster rate than adult bots. Now, they were about five and a half feet tall, around Angela's height. And about half a foot taller than Abby, who didn't care for once.

Both Optimus and Elita ran towards their offspring. The Sparklings reached out for their parents, and they didn't hesitate to hold them. And Angela didn't hesitate to take a picture.

"Aww." Agent Fowler smiled. Everyone stared at him. "What?" He asked. The kids giggled.

"Okay we better get going...Holy mother of mayhem! Abby we gotta get you back home!" Angela cried, showing the time on her phone. Abby's eyes widened. "What if they find out that I'm gone?! I'm so dead," She whined. They turned to their friends.

"Sorry we've got to go," Angela apologized.

Miko ran up and hugged them. Raf and Jack joined her.

After they let go, Abby stepped back. "Hey, Neron, can I talk to you for a minute? Privately?" she addressed.

Angela stared. What was she going to talk to him about? Oh well. Maybe Abby would tell her later.

Abby shut the door of the trophy room behind her.

"What do you want to talk about?" asked Neron.

"Your attitude on life," she answered.

He stared at her, confused. "Why?" he questioned.

Abby sighed. "Look, I know how you keep beating yourself up about you being Megatron's kid. And I want to say that it's not right or fair for you to do that to yourself," she stated.

Neron's face fell. "Oh, that. I know that I can't help it, but I still wonder: what if I turn out to be like him?" he said, smacking his hands against his thigh. Abby growled.

"Neron, listen to me! It doesn't matter how you are born or who your parents are, but it's your actions that matter!" she shouted.

Neron's eyes narrowed. "What do you know about that?!" he snapped.

Abby stared at the ground. "Because I'm adopted," she muttered.

Neron stared. "What?" he asked in disbelief.

Abby nodded. "It's true. My biological father died in a plane crash when I was four. When I was six, my house burned down. I managed to get out with my brother, but my biological mom didn't get out," she stated. She could barely remember it, but the memories she did have flooded into her head. The smoke. The heat. The sirens. She shook them away.

"I'm sorry," Neron whispered.

Abby shook her head. "No, please don't pity me. That's why I don't usually tell people about that. And the reason I told you was to get my point across. My biological parents were scientists, and let's just say that they did things that I'm not proud of. But does that define me? No. Aside from my genes, I'm not like them. And you're nothing like your dad," she said.

Neron smiled. "Thank you for everything," he whispered.

"You are most welcome," Abby said. They stepped out of the trophy room.

"I'll never forget you!" Angela called. Ratchet turned on the groundbridge.

"Take care of that cut, shortie!" he called.

Abby laughed. "Thanks Rust Bucket!" she called back.

Elita ran over to the girls and picked them up. "I cannot thank you enough," she whispered.

Optimus came over. "We owe you a massive debt," he agreed.

Angela smiled. "Oh, it's nothing. Besides, who wouldn't want to save these little cuties?" she said, gesturing to Orion and Arielle. At that moment they had stolen one of Ratchet's wrenches and he was now chasing them around the room, to no avail. Abby laughed. She and Angela waved one last time to their friends and ran through the groundbridge. Hopefully, they wouldn't get busted.

Chapter 7. Time and time again

Abby and Angela jumped through the end of the portal and onto the basement floor. It was a miracle that both of them had lived to see their world again. "I hope that my parents aren't aware I'm missing." Abby said, yawning. All the adrenaline seemed to have gone away, and it really felt like she'd pulled an all-nighter.

"They won't."

The two girls turned. Alpha Trion standing above them. Abby glared. "You! You mister have a lot of nerve to show up here!" Abby shouted, as Angela held her back. "Easy there tiger." Angela said, probably trying to calm her down, but it didn't work.

"A flipping Decepticon mine! You send us to the one place that we could have been killed at with the Sparklings! What the heck!" Abby continued.

Alpha Trion sighed. "I apologize, Abigail, but the key was random because it was used for the first time. Now, it will automatically be sent to the Autobot base," he explained. Abby froze at the mention of her full name. Nobody called her Abigail. Well, except for her parents.

"Wait, do you mean..." Angela started.

"Yes, the time stream between your world and mine are the same. You'll be able to visit them without too much time passing," He explained. Alpha Trion's optics focused on the bandage around Abby's head. "Let's get that fixed as well," he said. Trion waved his hand. The bandage disappeared, as did her wound.

"Thank you. I'd better get home too." Abby said. Angela nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry Abigail..." Trion started.

"Just Abby is fine," Abby interrupted.

"...Abby your parents will never know you have been outside of your house. And thank you both for your act of bravery," he continued.

And with that the bot vanished.

"Okay I'll see you in a couple hours. If I'm not asleep," Abby said to Angela.

Her friend nodded in understanding. "Yeah, we both need a good night's sleep," she agreed.

Abby waved goodbye to her friend and teleported herself home. In the blink of an eye, she was standing in her own basement. According to the clock, it was three in the morning. Her parents wouldn't be up for a couple of hours. She crept up the stairs and jumped into her bed. Every cell in her body ached, but at least she was still breathing. And Angela was still alive. Abby fell asleep, glad that the struggle was over.

Starscream awoke on the cold floor of the Harbinger, his head pounding. "What happened?" he thought to himself. Then he remembered. That Autobot, Bulkhead, had punched him out. Starscream growled. Just then, a raccoon jumped on his chest. "Whaaaaaaa!" he screamed, jumping up, causing the raccoon to land on the ground.

"What do you want?" Starscream asked, still terrified.

The raccoon then walked towards him, with more raccoons following behind it. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he exclaimed.

Starscream turned and ran as fast as he could away from the raccoons. All he could think of as he ran was "Why me?!"

The next day...

Angela and Abby sat on the couch, looking at their weapons.

"So, you made these by hand, huh," Abby said, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah." Angela replied.

There really wasn't much to say. After all, Angela's parents weren't due to be home until the following day. Just then, an idea made its way into Abby's head.

"Well, my parents aren't picking me up until five and there's nothing else to do, so..." said Abby, glancing towards the teleporter. Angela smiled giddily.

As soon as they stepped out of the teleporter, Ratchet spotted them. "Back already? I guess you humans never really go away, do you?" he asked, optics wide. Everyone turned. The girls smiled.

"Yep, you've got that right," Abby declared.

A new bot, with red and white paint job, walked up to them.

"Well, where did you come from?" he asked. Bulkhead stepped forward. "Girls, this is Wheeljack," he introduced.

Abby nodded. "My name is Abby." she said

"And I'm Angela!" her friend added.

Wheeljack smirked. "So you two are the ones who escaped from the Decepticon slammer," he said.

"Yep, we did," Angela confirmed.

"Okay, now that you are introduced, why don't you two go hang out with the Sparklings now," suggested Ratchet.

Abby turned. "Why, scared of a little humiliation?" she and Wheeljack asked at the same time.

Angela laughed. "Better watch out, Ratchet, you're gonna have double trouble on your hands," she said.

Wheeljack laughed. "You've got that right," he smirked, giving Abby a high five. At least, Abby just high fived his finger. Bumblebee exchanged a look with Arcee. Without a word, they transformed and drove out of the base.

"What was that about?" asked Jack.

"They just want some alone time," answered Elita, causing everyone but Optimus and Ratchet to snicker.

"Hey, who's up for some fun?" asked Neron, tossing a huge metal ball in the air. Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Elita straightened up.

Optimus stood up and walked over to Elita's side.

"I'll make sure you play fair," Ratchet said, motioning for the humans to go to the balcony. Abby and Angela ran up there, joining Jack, Raf, Miko, and the Sparklings.

"Go Bulkhead!" cheered Miko.

"Mommy! Daddy! Go win!" shouted Arielle, shaking Orion's shoulders with every word.

Abby smiled. This was gonna be good.

The End


End file.
